Kirjavälitys Oy has acquired from Suomalainen Kirjakauppa the company's library sales operations, effective from 1.9.2006. The annual turnover of this section of the business is approximately EUR 4 million, and four members of staff will transfer into the employ of Kirjavälitys as a result of the deal. The sale will not have any significant impact on the Suomalainen Kirjakauppa result for the year.
"The commercial activities acquired in this agreement will further strengthen the initiative we have introduced for sales to the municipal sector", reports Kirjavälitys managing director Risto Romppanen. Kirjavälitys also supplies textbooks to the Finnish school system. Kirjavälitys is a service company owned by Finnish publishers and booksellers, supplying the book trade with logistics and other services.
"Suomalainen Kirjakauppa has enjoyed a long history in the library sales trade, but we have decided to concentrate our activities in our core strategic areas of expertise, namely the retail bookstore trade, online sales, and subscriptions of newspapers and magazines", notes Bookstores SVP Jarmo Oksaharju, the Suomalainen Kirjakauppa managing director.
Suomalainen Kirjakauppa is a part of the Rautakirja Group, which owns 20.05% of Kirjavälitys.
Rautakirja is part of the SanomaWSOY Group.
Further details:
Risto Romppanen, managing director, Kirjavälitys Oy, tel. +358 10 345 1449 or +358 40 504 2177
Jarmo Oksaharju, managing director, Suomalainen Kirjakauppa Oy, tel. +358 9 852 7800 or +358 40 836 4229